Chapter 17: The Haruki Residence.

"I'm calling the cops"

"What about the military?"

"Why don't we just knock?"

"NO!"

Jihyo rolled her eyes, her other friends refusing to get down from the car, which had been stationed in front of what was to be the 'Sakurai Residence' for about thirty minutes now. Jihyo looked around her, Yeonjun was looking for emergency services, Jisoo was currently praying, and Junseo and Miyeon were trying to reach the cause of all of this. Haruki Sakurai.

"He is not answering." Miyeon sounded scared, just what chaos had their friend got himself in?

After all, the place that they had arrived at had an ironed and brick fence surrounding it. By looking through the thick ironed bars they could get a glimpse of a vast state of land, a hill and a house on top of it.

No, not a house.

A full on mansion.

The fact there was a foreign man at the entrance dressed in all black and with sunglasses that didn't allow for them to see if he had been staring at them for the past half-hour gave them goosebumps. The atmosphere felt heavy, and their rears seemed to be stuck to the leather seats, as if they were planning on becoming one with the vehicle.

"I'm getting tired of waiting. I'm going to ask that guy over there"

Before anyone could grab her, their shortest member slipped out of the car, and started skipping towards the dangerous looking man at the entrance.

"JIHYO!"

All remnant occupants bolted out of the car, but it was too late. They saw the man leaning down towards Jihyo.

"No!" Yeonjun ran and was taking the impulse to jump and tackle the guy, when he saw him take off his glasses.

"Oh! You must be a young Master's guest. I had been wondering why you weren't getting down, I figured you were just resting after the long journey." The man said. Now without his glasses, they could see the features of the man better. He was bald, and that's why they hadn't noticed that in reality he was an old man. Wrinkled face and kind smile.

Yeonjun was stopped mid jump by that revelation, and thank God Jisoo had been close enough to catch him. The shock they felt set them out of place, and as they got closer, Jisoo continued to carry him bridal style. Behind them, Miyon and Junseo decided to not contact the police.

The old man, whose name they learned to be Robert, guided them up the hill, just after another younger Korean guy got their keys and informed them he would be taking the car to the garage.

While Jihyo actively talked with the old man, her other friends were sort of in auto-pilot. Letting their feet just follow along, mouths still agape. The old man chuckled at the youngsters, particularly at the pair that had the boy still being carried as a bride.

Once they arrived at the front door, they noticed the old and glamorous style of the house. Beautiful pillars stood around the entrance, soft purple and white lilacs adorned the two sides of the door. There were minimalistic details here and there, a wooden bench colored in gray with mint details, a small and rustic sign that read 'Welcome' in english. And the small name of 'Sakurai' in native Japanese was carved on the golden door knob.

"Go on, there will be someone to guide you to the back porch, Master Haruki is waiting for you there." The man dismissed himself and bowed to them respectfully, they bowed back.

Jihyo grabbed the door knob, but hesitated. Then looked back at her friends.

"Is…is this ok?" She asked in a small voice. She had seemed eager to see the inside of this place. But, although the decoration of the outside had been arranged as to look nothing out of the ordinary, everything looked anything but 'ordinary'. And just like Junseo, she was always nervous around rich people, and this place was way too deep in that category of rich.

Her friends gulped, but nodded, whatever this was, they had been told Haruki was somewhere inside this place. And the Haruki that they knew, was a kind, easy-going, and good natured person. They weren't going to feel out of place when they finally saw him, so it was better to find him, and quickly.

The door opened, and there another foreign man greeted them.

"Good evening, young masters, my name is Arturo" The man said in perfect Korean, he bowed, and they returned the bow.

"Come along, Young Master has been waiting for all of you." His voice was so soothing it calmed down their nerves a tad bit. They followed along, facing forward and not allowing themselves to take in the view of the inside. Right now, they needed to feel a sense of familiarity, and the only way they could find it was by finding Haruki.

Once they arrived, the huge window in front of them with a perfect and majestic sunset view left them breathless. There, they saw a glimpse of fluffy hair sticking out of a reclining chair. Almost in a heartbeat, and as soon as they had the 'go' sign from Arturo, they ran out that door.

"Haruki!" The yell that escaped Miyeon took the glasses boy by surprise, he turned around, just to be tackled by the redhead, who then was tackled by Yeonjun, whose sister tackled him, and so on.

Now on the floor, with all his friends group hugging him, Haruki let out a breathless laugh. His friends raised their heads, confused.

"Did you guys miss me that much?" He asked with a smile.

"Miss you? Dude! What did you do? Are we going to have to report this to the police!?"

"What is this place?!"

"Are we going to be sold off to the black market?!"

"We need an escape plan now!"

Ok, now, it was Haruki's turn to be confused.

"Hold up just a second" He stopped their ramble, and with a gesture told them to sit down on the floor around him so he could speak better.

"First of all, I haven't done anything…" Then he stayed quiet, "At least not that I know of…" That sentence left his friends even more on edge.

"Second, this is MY house we're in, so no police need to be involved, you guys haven't trespassed on private property without permission." He assured them.

"Third, the black market is closed today so no." Yeonjun looked relieved, before he realized what that meant.

"So tomorrow!?" He asked, frantically.

"No, you dummy." Haruki flicked his forehead.

"And then last, we can't escape because I didn't spend a whole day planning this retreat for you guys to ditch me." He looked seriously at all of them. "You are stuck with me for the rest of the week, whether you like it or not" He closed the topic just like that.

The rest nodded, they had questions, way too many, but something told them it was better to ask later. Besides, the fact Haruki was acting like his normal self gave them the reassurance they needed. They could inquire about this later, either way, whatever it was, they trusted him.

"Alright now, let me introduce you to my Jiji!" Haruki got up and went behind another reclining chair, where an old white haired man sat down, looking at the group with a welcoming smile.

Of course, the fact there was someone else, and that someone appeared to be important to Haruki, was enough for everyone to get up and straighten themselves. In perfect sync, they bowed and greeted the man.

"Good evening, sir. We apologize for the rudeness, we are Haruki's friends." They kept their heads low, the man seemed kind alright, but the fact he was probably the owner of all of that and more, was enough for him to be intimidating in their eyes.

"Oh, come on, children. Don't be afraid. Haruki has told me all about you." The man chuckled.

"My name is Mosu, but you can call me grandpa Mo" He said with a smile. The atmosphere eased up, as the man treated the children with nothing but kindness. He seemed very happy to meet the people that made his grandson's life great and lively. It had been a long time since he had seen that sincere and beautiful smile painted in Haruki's face. He felt grateful towards all of them, particularly to the redheaded girl.

"Miyeon, darling…" He called out.

"Yes, sir!...I mean, Yes, grandpa Mo" She said, still not looking up.

"Look at me, sweetie." The man said softly. Miyeon lifted her head slowly. Once she did, she saw the man mouth a quiet 'Thank you' which left her quite confused, but she smiled nonetheless.

After the greetings and the introductions. Haruki guided them up towards the guest rooms. He explained that although there were plenty of rooms in the house, he wanted them to be closer together, so the boys would all share a room, and the girls would be right beside them in another room. There was a bathroom inside each room, and two more down the hallway they were in.

Once inside, the friends noticed that their forgotten lounge, as they had all rushed out the car, had been brought up and was left in their respective beds. The rooms were so big, that even with three beds in each room, there was still a lot of space left, and the windows were wide, and opened to a balcony in each room. It was truly beautiful. The balconies were side by side, and once the girls went to check out theirs, they saw the guys on the other side.

Apparently, the shock from this being a very fancy place had worn off, because the first thing they decided to do was to test and see if they could cross from one balcony to the other. But, in the middle of their third try, after having Yeonjun and Jisoo almost plummet to their deaths, they heard a warning voice coming from the lower floor of the house.

"Haruki Sakurai! Just what in the world do you think you're doing?!" Haruki went rigid at the sound of the female voice.

"Oh, Baba's awake" He said, but the nervous quiver in his lips told his friends they had made a big mistake just hours after arriving.

"I'm still waiting for an answer!" The old woman at the bottom floor tapped her foot on the floor, still wearing her pajamas, and with her hair rolled up, she gave them the vibe of an average grandma. But the fire in her eyes, and the way she carried herself reminded Miyeon of the confidence Haruki had worn the first day of training.

"That's where you got it from, huh?" She thought, and without missing a beat, pushed Haruki to the other side, where Junseo catched him.

"Let's stop before your grandma kills us." Haruki nodded at her suggestion, and quickly replied to his grandma.

"We were just trying to hand something to the girls, we'll go back inside Baba, bye-bye!" He said and rushed his friends inside, so he could properly introduce them to his grandma at dinner. Which by the way, would be held soon.

Haruki instructed them that dinner would be in about an hour, so if they wanted to rest a bit it would be fine, he stayed in the room with Junseo and Yeonjun. The boys were now playing a card game, all three already showered and in comfortable clothes. Haruki had brought them slippers with their own names on it, despite everyone assuring him they had their own.

A knock on the door, and the sound of Arturo's voice announcing dinner stopped their game, and although the two older guys wouldn't admit it, if it hadn't been for that, they would have lost all their paper money that they were betting, why was Haruki so good at gambling?

Once they went out in the hallway, they encountered the girls, well two of them at least.

"Where's Jisoo?" Yeonjun asked.

"She is still showering, she'll be down in a minute." Miyeon replied.

They decided to wait for her downstairs. The table had been set with all sorts of dishes, and in two chairs at the end of the long table sat down the two elders of the house. Beside them, sat the butler they had seen, he was calmly talking to the grandmother. Once he saw the group, he sat up and greeted them. Haruki smiled and fist bumped him, but the others were still a bit stiff.

They sat down and waited for someone to start the conversation. Of course, the air seemed to tense once Haruki left to go and get something from the kitchen.

The rest of his friends looked nervously at each other. One, none had touched their food because the elders hadn't either, and none had spoken since they hadn't been spoken to first. Now, without Haruki there, the air seemed suffocating, particularly the air coming from the stoic faced grandmother.

And like before, Jihyo got tired of the silence and the waiting.

"Excuse me, could we…?"

CRASH! BAM!

The sound of something falling down the stairs made everyone jolt, the group of friends turned around to see the cause of the commotion. Just to be faced with face-planted on the floor Jisoo, who now debated whether to pretend to be dead or face the embarrassment. The grandparents looked at her with stoic faces as soon as she looked up, Jisoo felt like crying.

Then, the sound of chairs being forcefully pushed back and the sound of rushed footsteps halted her tears.

"Oh God! Ji!" Miyeon was the first one at her side, followed closely by Junseo and then the twins.

"Are you ok?" Yeonjun checks her for injuries.

"Hey, look at me, all good?" Junseo sounded calm, everyone really did. Not overwhelming her with questions and covering her in a semicircle form the eyes of the elders and other servants in the room. Jisoo felt her tears and heart appease. She took a deep breath and replied.

"I think I might have twisted my ankle a bit. I took my slippers inside the bathroom, and they must've gotten wet, I forgot to change to the ones Haruki bought for us. I slipped on my way down here." She explained softly.

"Let me see." Yeonjun checked her ankle, while Miyeon gave Jisoo her hand to hold in case it hurt too much. Jihyo stroked her hair, and Junseo took her other hand while Yeonjun readjusted her ankle. It had already started to swell a little, but by the looks of it, it would easily heal with some ice and rest.

"You should be good by the morning." Yeonjun reassured her with a smile.

"What happened?! Who got hurt? I heard a crash!" Haruki came running with a first aid kit. Somehow, his instinct had told him to bring it with him, and oh his friends loved him for that.

Haruki read the room in an instant and rushed to his friends, giving Yeonjun the kit. Yeonjun patched Jisoo up. And with her friends surrounding her, Jisoo felt incredibly warm, so cared for.

"Thank you guys, really, thank you." She gave them her warmest smile.

The rest nodded, smiling back, then a small 'hump' coming from the table brought their attention back to the audience they had.

Haruki's grandma looked at them with a serious face, they almost feared what would come out her mouth.

Everyone but Haruki, who saw his grandpa's wide smile, and knew from there, his friends had somehow managed to win his grandma, not an easy thing to do really.

"You are good kids, really good kids' ' She said, her voice strong but praising them, then she turned to Haruki.

"I see you've found your 'people' as you used to say" And for the first time since they had arrived, the others saw the old woman smile.

It was a beautiful smile.

"I did," Haruki said, as they helped Jisoo up, and he smiled warmly at them "I really did."

The rest smiled and started to approach the table quietly to continue dinner. That, until….

"JISOO!" Miyeon's, Jihyo's, Yeonjun's yell startled everyone.

"What? What happened!?" Jisoo panicked, thinking maybe her clothes or appearance were deranged from the fall.

"YOU'RE SMALLER!"

"What…?" She asked, confused. Then she realized something so trivial yet apparently not so insignificant.

She wasn't wearing her heels, meaning right now, she was just an inch above eye level from Miyeon. Who looked at her as if she had been hit with a shrinking spell, in disbelief and horror.

"Oh, that…" She said, But before she could answer, Haruki replied for her instead.

"She isn't wearing heels, of course she is smaller." He said, guiding her to the table with Junseo who also seemed unfazed. The other three stayed frozen in place. Then, as if still loading the information, they decided to share a single brain cell.

"You wear heels?" They asked. And Haruki almost feared his grandma would take back her words because of those three idiots.

Instead, the resonant laugh from his grandparents kicked his worries out. And not too long after, Jisoo, Junseo, and him were laughing too, meanwhile the other three were still asking 'what was so funny?'